Converting Network Media Data into Human Readable Form : A study on deep packet inspection with with real-time visualization.

Abstract: A proof of concept study into the working of network media capture and visualization through the use of Packet Capture in real-time. An application was developed that is able to capture tcp network packets; identify and display images in raw HTTP network traffic through the use of search, sort, error detection, timeout failsafe algorithms in real time. The application was designed for network administrators to visualize raw network media content together with its relevant network source \& address identifiers. Different approaches were tried and tested such as using Perl with GTK+ and Visual Studio C\# .Net. Furthermore two different types of image identification methods were used: raw magic string identification in pure tcp network traffic and HTTP Mime type identification. The latter being more accurate and faster. C# was seen as vastly superior in both speed of prototyping and final performance evaluation. The study presents a novel new way of monitoring networks on the basis of their media content through deep packet inspection